The law of averages says it can’t possibly last, but it’s quite a feat. Through five American Legion baseball Zone 2 games, South China Subway has allowed a total of 13 hits.

Now, Subway hasn’t faced Post 51 yet — just in his last three games, Post 51’s Sam Dexter has three doubles, two triples and two home runs — and the games have been spread out enough that top pitchers Shyler Scates, Jory Humphrey and Tom Grady have thrown most of the innings.

But Subway has played two games against a solid Gardiner team, and whatever level you’re talking about, 13 hits allowed in 32 innings is pretty impressive.

“We’ve actually played really well defensively, too,” Subway coach Mark St. Amand said. “Tommy Grady threw a great game (a one-hitter against Amato’s of Rockland), but he also had a couple nice plays off the mound.”

Subway was scheduled to play more than five games in 16 days thus far, but the rain interfered, and a doubleheader against Waterville was postponed because of a field conflict. St. Amand has had some pitchers throw on the side during games to stay fresh, and he plans to use three starters for two or three innings each today against Madison. Subway will play its last 11 games over about two weeks, but the staff should be deep enough to handle that.

“We’ve got guys who haven’t thrown twice in a week yet,” St. Amand said, “and we’ve got guys like Scates and Humphrey who can throw Tuesday, and come back and throw Saturday with no issues.”

The offense is also coming around. After Subway lost two of the first three, including a 3-1 loss to Gardiner’s Josh Martin, St. Amand told his players he thought they were flat and that he’d rather see horseplay in the dugout than nothing at all. Subway beat Martin and Gardiner 6-1 in a rematch, then posted a 10-0 win over Amato’s, with nine different players hitting safely.

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Fairfield Junior Legion is 6-1 and in second place in the North Division. Fairfield coach Rusty Mercier, who also coaches the Lawrence High School team, said Fairfield has 18 players on its roster — 14 from Lawrence and four from Messalonskee.

“We’ve got lots of young, dedicated kids who are enthusiastic about baseball,” Mercier said.

Fairfield’s only loss this season was to Tri-Town, a team from the Minot/Poland area. Tri-Town, which defeated Fairfield 4-3 in that game, is 6-0 and in first place in the North.

Patrick Breton and Cody Martin are each 2-0 on the mound this season. J.T. Nutting is 1-0 and has had several good outings. Martin and Ben Frazee are both hitting over .300, and Joe Leclair has been strong in the four and five spots in the lineup.

Sixteen of the 21 Junior Legion teams qualify for the playoffs, and the top two finishers in each division avoid a play-in game. After the play-in games, the remaining eight teams square off in best-of-three series. Those four winners advance to the state tournament, Aug. 10-12 at the University of Southern Maine. Fairfield lost in the best-of-three round to Yarmouth last year.

“We want to get to the state tournament,” Mercier said. “That’s our goal at this point. I think we’ll have to continue pitching and playing defense well. That’s been our strength.”

Beyond that, Mercier has noticed a lot of older players on the Post 51 team, and he’s hoping some of his players can move up to that team next summer.

“We feel like the last couple years, we’ve gotten kids ready for that,” Mercier said.

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Franklin County coach Kyle Gunzinger said if you take away a couple of his players, the Flyers would qualify to play Junior Legion. It’s certainly a young team, but the Flyers are competitive so far.

“I didn’t know the kids coming in. I hadn’t seem them play,” Gunzinger said. “So it’s a matter of putting together the lineup the right way. They’re getting better as they go, and that’s the important thing, I think.”

Franklin has had games so far against Post 51, Gardiner and Madison — the teams with the three best records in Zone 2. So the Flyers are doing pretty well to be 2-4.

“We’ve played the meat of our schedule early, with a very young group, and hopefully we just keep getting better,” Gunzinger said.

Leadoff hitter Ryan Greenman plays a solid center field for the Flyers, and Andrew Pratt has been superb behind the plate. Pitcher Jimmy Neal has both wins and Cam Abbott has had a couple of tough losses, including a 2-1 setback to Madison on unearned runs.

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If you’re going to see a game where Waterville is the home team, you might want to double-check before you get in your car. Waterville usually plays at the high school field, but that field is unavailable. The Beavers have played games at Thomas College and the junior high and are looking into playing at Winslow.

Waterville has one of the league’s top hitters in J.T. Whitten, and he’s also been starring defensively, along with catcher Aidan Fitzgerald and outfielder Mark Beckim. On the mound, Whitten and Brian Bellows can keep Waterville in the game against anyone, and Lance Lefebvre, Beckim and Fitzgerald can all throw strikes.

The Beavers are 2-5 and, along with those veterans, are some younger players, who are gaining useful experience.

“Cody Lyons is seeing some innings,” Waterville coach Eli Fitzgerald said. “He’s starting to work on going the other way with the ball. Nate Gromek is good to have around. Benny Cox at third has been very solid for us. It’s good that these younger kids are signing up and playing.”

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

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